FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - The Atlanta Falcons have completed a virtual with Steve Wilks for the organization's head coach position, the team announced on Saturday.
The Falcons have already completed interviews with Mike Macdonald and Brian Callahan.
Per NFL protocols, interviews with employees of other clubs must be conducted virtually prior to the conclusion of Divisional Playoff games on Sunday, Jan. 21. If the employer club has a Wild Card bye, virtual interviews must be conducted prior to the conclusion of Wild Card games. If the employer club is a Wild Card participant, virtual interviews may begin three days after its Wild Card game and must be conducted prior to the conclusion of Divisional Playoff games.
Beginning Monday, Jan. 22, clubs may conduct in-person or virtual interviews with candidates who are employed by other NFL clubs whose seasons have concluded and are prohibited from conducting initial interviews with candidates who are employed by clubs participating in the Conference Championship Games until the conclusion of the employer club's season.
Let's learn more about someone the Falcons are considering to become the 19th head coach in franchise history.
Interview date: Saturday, Jan. 13
Current job: San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator
Resume highlights:
- Carolina Panthers, 2012-2017: Wilks held positions as the Panthers' defensive backs coach (2012-2014), assistant head coach and defensive backs coach (2015-2016) and assistant head coach and defensive coordinator (2017)
- Arizona Cardinals, 2018: He was Cardinals head coach for one season.
- Carolina Panthers, 2022 (second stint): He began the season as the Panthers' defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach before spending the final six games of the season as the Panthers' interim head coach.
Local connections: Wilks is no stranger to the NFC South and Atlanta Falcons organization, having spent seven years with the Panthers organization. He has tangential knowledge of recent organizational history and workings from the viewpoint of an opposing coach who faces the team twice a year.
Why he's a candidate: Wilks is a respected defensive-forward coach with over 15 years of experience at the NFL level. He has been a top candidate to land a head coaching position in many of the peak times of the coaching carousel in recent years, particularly after he took over as the Panthers interim head coach in Oct. 2022.
With Wilks as the interim head coach, the Panthers went 6-6 in their final 12 games, and actually moved up in divisional standing to end the season tied for second in the NFC South after starting the 2022 season 1-4.
Most recently, Wilks has found significant success with the 49ers, a defense that ranks third in scoring defense and top-10 in yards allowed and defensive takeaways per game.
Strikes against: Though Wilks has been an associate head coach and, later, interim head coach for the Panthers, he has only been a true head coach of an organization once. Wilks was the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018. In that lone year, the Cardinals went 3-13. According to Pro Football Reference, that was the worst record for a Cardinals team since 2000. The Cardinals parted ways with Wilks on Dec. 31, 2018.
